There came a time some two hundred years ago in deep Volodmartz when the vale of Boyar Helga found a little peace. The Wolves were distracted, or else driven away, the winters were mild, and the Eternals of the Wasteland did not much trouble the affairs of mortals. It was a good time, and a prosperous one, and after five years of this a woman called Ula left her outpost behind, and went away to quarry stone.Helga mocked her as she lugged huge square slabs up a hill to stand watch over the crossroads. Her Schlachta would idle beneath the quarry in the day, shouting taunts and mockery, and her Stzena at night would sing ribald songs of the warden of summer, praising her lavishly for the imaginary foes she kept at bay.But she persevered, and out of awe, respect or a touch more foresight than their fellows, Varushkans from the vale slipped away from their posts to toil and quarry and raise a rough keep above the crossroads. Three years it took; and in this time they also raised farms around the keep and trained themselves in both arms and wisdom.So it was that one cold night, the Wolves returned in force, like a plague of locusts. The Wise Ones of the Vale foresaw the attack, and soon the inhabitants of each outpost were crowding around the keep, arms laden with all they could carry. Boyar Helga said to her: Let my people in! And Ula said: What price will you pay, that I should let your people in, who have mocked me and grown fat all through this long summer? Helga said: Any price, only open the gates of the keep! Ula called down once more, as Helga swore that she could feel the wolves breathing down her back, and said: “Then I ask only that all of your people must go ahead of you.” Helga agreed in haste, and stood by the heavy doors of the keep, ushering in her people with baskets of grain and meat and fruit, all they could carry from their homes. When the last one entered, quick as a flash, Ula pulled shut the gate of the keep, barring Helga outside.“Ula, Ula, you have betrayed me!” cried Helga as the sun crept below the horizon. “Have I?” came the reply. “You asked for sanctuary for your people, and you have it. But there is always a price to be paid.” Helga’s pleas and screams were soon drowned in the sound of hungry wolves and whispering bows; come the morning a wiser Boyar led his new people back to the vale to salvage what could be salvaged. And the keep? It stands there still, my friend. We are ready.

We're Varushkan Warders, based out of Volodmartz (That's the one with the *extra* deep, dark woods.) No special kit or backstory or even skillset requirements (Wardens need to be really flexible), though a) some combat skill is preferred, b) this is unlikely to be the group to be playing the economic game in and c) we already have a leader of sorts.

All in all, really a very down-the-line Warden group straight out of the brief at this point. Focus in uptime will probably be on dealing with *weird* threats to the empire and threats to the road networks; we're not really here to kill ten orcs for breakfast unless they're also trying to pull through a creeping horror from the Dark realm.